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Family interventions have been shown to be effective for adolescents with behavior problems. Current literature supports both adaptive treatments and technology-assisted interventions as highly promising innovations for treating at-risk adolescents. The purpose of this investigation was to develop and test the efficacy of a computer-assisted version of an established office-based multicomponent family therapy. Eighty Hispanic and Black Non-Hispanic adolescents and their families participated in the study and were randomized to either Immediate Computer-Assisted CIFFTA or Delayed Computer-Assisted CIFFTA. Significant between-groups effects were found from baseline to posttreatment showing the superiority of the Immediate CA CIFFTA condition on both the Conduct Disorder (B = -5.17, SE = 1.73, p < .01, CI [-8.55, -1.79]) and Socialized Aggression (B = -2.04, SE = .83, p < .05, CI [-3.67, -.41]) subscales of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist, on the Youth Self Report Externalizing scale (B = -4.22, SE = 1.40, p < .01, CI [-6.95, -1.48]), and on both the parent (B = 1.34, SE = .50, p < .01, CI [.36, 2.32]) and adolescent (B = 1.31, SE = .46, p < .01, CI [.41, 2.21]) reports of the Family Environment Scale’s family cohesion subscale. Baseline to 6-weeks posttreatment (T1-T3) analyses showed that these significant within-subjects effects were sustained for the treatment group. Results highlight that adolescent behavior problems can be significantly impacted by a computer-assisted intervention that replaces psychoeducational face-to-face meetings with computer-delivered modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the adolescent research literature, acculturation processes have been linked to the development of serious behavior problems in Hispanic adolescents, but not enough is known about how that process takes place. This article reports an investigation that sought to shed light on empirically plausible mechanisms by which family processes (i.e., familism and parenting practices) may operate as mediators of acculturation-related factors on adolescent problem behaviors among 167 Hispanic sixth- or seventh-grade early adolescents. SEM analyses identified an empirically plausible mediated pathway through which parenting practices may operate as a mediator of the effects of acculturation-related variables on adolescent problem behaviors. Second, although the role of familism as a mediator was not supported, the results did provide support for familism having indirect effects on behavior problems also through parenting practices. The findings are discussed in the context of existing research and clinical developments in the treatment of Hispanic adolescents and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation is a prominent target for substance use interventions because it is theorized to increase engagement in therapy and predict treatment outcomes. Establishing the validity of measures relevant to motivation among Hispanic/Latino adolescents will improve the resources available for screening and measuring change processes in a multicultural population. We examined the structure of the Problem Recognition Questionnaire (PRQ; Cady, Winters, Jordan, Solberg, & Stinchfield, 1996) with Hispanic/Latino adolescents. Participants were adolescents (n=191) in a randomized controlled trial for substance abuse. Data were collected during a baseline pre-treatment time point and post-treatment time point that was four-months post-baseline. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the three-factor structure proposed by Cady et al. (1996) had a poor fit with pre-treatment data. Follow-up exploratory analyses with principal axis factoring identified an alternate three-factor structure with pre-treatment data (problem recognition, readiness, and treatment resistance). A second CFA showed this three-factor model fit data from participants at the post-treatment time point (n=155). The results provide preliminary evidence for using our proposed factor structure for the PRQ subscales with Hispanic/Latino adolescents. We discuss the dimensions we identified in the context of similar measures and the implications for measuring problem recognition, readiness, and treatment resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]